The objective of the County Adjuster is to carry out the duties outlined in New Jersey Statute 30:4-34. These duties include having charge and supervision of the preparation of papers relating to the admission and commitment of the mentally ill within the County, and in some cases other Counties. The County Adjuster is responsible for the scheduling of Court hearings for anyone committed to a Federal, State, County, Private, or Special Psychiatric Hospital. Unless a client has private counsel, an attorney is assigned to represent the client at the hearing. These hearings, by law, must be held within 20 days of confinement for an adult and 14 days of confinement for an adolescent. Until the clients are discharged they are afforded a review of their admission status on a regular basis.

Each county is responsible to cover the cost of care for its residents. The County Adjuster, acting as referee of the Court, investigates the residency and settlement of the patient and their ability to pay for their stay. From those investigations, the County Adjuster sends the reports and findings to the Superior Court. The Court then issues an Order, which indicates the County, State and/or patient's financially responsible and also the amount, if any. If the patient's responsibility is more than zero percent, it is the responsibility of the County Adjuster to follow up with the billing once the initial bill is issued by the hospital.

The County Adjuster assists Police Departments in completing mental health record searches as part of the gun purchasing process.

ALL RECORDS ARE CONFIDENTIAL AND ARE THEREFORE NOT AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC

Due to confidentiality and HIPAA federal and state regulations, any requests that require patient information must be sent to the Adjuster's Office in writing, via regular mail. The Adjuster's Office does not accept email requests with a patient's name or other personal information. No responses by the County potentially revealing Protected Health Information can be made via email.